I Traded My iPhone for a Flip Phone and I've Never Been Happier

My purple Motorola is EVERYTHING.

By
Janey Litvin

Jan 25, 2016

Frances Dovell

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Crrrrrrrrack!

I had a bad feeling about that sound. As I knelt on the ground picking up shattered pieces of screen seven months ago, I realized that every teenage girl's worst nightmare was about to become my reality.

I'd broken my iPhone.

Immediately, I felt a wave of grief. It was like mourning the loss of a dear friend. I started to think of how different my day would be without my trusty iPhone by my side. No more morning #OOTD snapchats, no more really long bathroom visits spent scrolling down Instagram feeds (let's be honest, we've all done it), no more bored-in-history food porn stalking, the list goes on. Of course, I could have just gone and paid a ridiculous amount to salvage my phone, but there was a part of me that felt relieved it was broken.

Before that fateful day, although I wouldn't have admitted it, I was totally addicted to my iPhone. It literally called to me: notifications of incoming snaps, the vibrations of a hundred group chat messages. Being away from my iPhone only made more work for me when we'd reunite because then I'd have to answer EVERYTHING. And check Instagram and Facebook too, you know, just in case I missed anything. It was like homework — I had to keep up with it or else I'd be behind. Every once in a while I'd slack for a bit, and the amount of unread messages would keep climbing, and that little red number on the messaging app icon would get bigger and bigger, I'd feel more and more stressed. But a broken iPhone changed everything. Suddenly, there was no pressure to respond or stay updated on everyone's latest move, and it was… nice.

A month went by and I still hadn't gotten my phone fixed. My friends kept asking me when I was getting a new iPhone, and I brushed them off. Both my mom and my friend Sarah offered me their old iPhones to use in the meantime, but I said no thanks, instigating choruses of Why wouldn't you take it? from my friends.

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But during that phoneless month, I began to notice how much time other people actually spent on their phones. At dinner, I sounded like my mother when my 20-year old brother would sneak a text under the table. "Jesse, get off your phone," I'd tell him, prompting an immediate "Jane, stop telling me what to do. You're not my mother," at which point my mother would tell him, "Jesse, get off your phone."

I started to really like being disconnected, even though I knew I'd need a phone eventually, for calling my parents, making plans with friends, and for putting in the inevitable movie-night sushi order. That's when it hit me: I wanted an old-school flip phone, not another iPhone. So I logged onto Amazon and ordered myself a purple flip. My flip phone is wonderful. It's cute, indestructible, and gets the job done. It even has a "fun frame" option for taking photos!

Lisa Eggert Litvin

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Adjusting to a simpler life in a world of smartphones was harder than I expected. Sure, I thought I might get teased a little, but when I told my friends that I was switching to a flip phone – which meant leaving the group chat – I wasn't ready for so much pushback. Don't get me wrong: It was a relief not to have hundreds of messages flooding my phone every day. But some of my friends told me I needed to rejoin the 21st century because I was sacrificing my social life (which I really hoped I wasn't!). Honestly, their initial lack of support was somewhat painful. Maybe they thought I was judging them for using smartphones? But the simple truth was that I couldn't handle an iPhone and the stress that came along with it.

Since I've switched to the flip phone and left the group chat, I've missed out on some inside jokes, plan-making, and post-junior prom gossiping. Even this past Halloween, my friends planned out a group costume via the groupchat, and someone said to be sure to tell me. I guess everyone thought that someone else had told me, because no one did, and by the time I heard about it, it was too late for me to order the pieces to the costume and I couldn't be a part of it. It wasn't intentional of course, but it made me feel like an outsider, like I could only truly be in the friend group if I was in the groupchat.

But over time, even though there have been a few inadvertent mishaps along the way, my friends have come to accept my flip phone, even though they still tease me when it takes me five minutes to text someone and the text says things like "l8ter." And we've figured out ways to communicate other than the group chat — now they'll call or text me, one at a time, to talk or make plans. They've also admitted to being impressed by my newfound typing skills on my ABC/123 keyboard, where I have to go to the number 1 key and then click through A and B to get to C. In fact, my friend Isabel just texted me that she's proud that I typed out an entire message with no abbreviations.

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On the flip side (ahahahahahaaaa), my new phone has changed my life for the better in so many little ways. For example, if I'm walking down the street or waiting in line at Starbucks, I'm no longer tempted to whip out Facebook and scroll through my news feed. Instead, I people-watch around me. Or when I go to New York City for the day, rather than using Google maps, I bring a paper map with me and ask for directions, even though it's embarrassing when the people who offer to help me ask where I'm from and I have to tell them I'm from thirty minutes away. It's also amazing to hear the really positive feedback about my phone from my peers. I've had tons of people — from the captain of the football team to my school's incredibly talented aspiring artist —come up to me and tell me that they think what I'm doing is great.

I know it's not realistic for everyone to throw away their iPhones and switch to a flip phone. And I'm not perfect either. I'm still a teenage girl — I have Instagram and Snapchat accounts that I check on my mom's phone once a day; I still go on Facebook on my laptop; and I text my friends, one at a time, even though it's a pain to do on my new keyboard.

Adriana Gomez

But I wonder if we, as a generation, should make a conscious effort to unplug sometimes. I've been going to summer camp for seven years, and it's the best four weeks of my year — not just because I'm sailing and playing basketball instead of studying for tests, but also because we're not allowed to use our phones. We are forced to make conversation, eye-to-eye, and this has helped foster incredibly strong friendships, even with people I rarely see the other 48 weeks out of the year. When we do meet up outside of camp, the iPhones still stay away, and instead, we're eating way too much cookie dough and figuring out how eight people can sleep on one couch without breaking it (which has been an issue in the past).

So maybe try it sometime. Turn off your phone for an hour or two when you're hanging out with your friends. Or next time you're at lunch and you hear that ever-so-tempting tri-tone, ignore the text and focus on having one conversation at a time. And maybe next time you drop your phone, instead of sheepishly asking your mom for her old iPhone, take a minute and see how refreshing it can be to unplug.

You might like it! And if you don't, no bigs; just head to the genius bar and replace your iPhone. We can still text, after all; it'll just take me a minute longer to text you back.